Sunday, September 28, 2014

Except for one or two final touches, I think we're finished putting our living/dining room together. It was a challenge moving into a house that was already full. We spent much of the summer sorting and combining two households, but it had to be done and I think the results are pleasing and comfortable. If you're interested, you can read a longer post about it and see more pictures here.

Don't worry~ our couch is not really neon blue!

The couch color is much truer to real life in this photo.

{Funny}

We once had a pastor who advocated couples regularly engage in "relationship building activities." He we are picking up load of manure for our garden from some local horse stables. I wonder if our pastor would think this counts?

{Real}

This is the view into our dining area from the living room. Do you see that box under the little table near the lower right corner? It has sat there so long and has become such a regular feature of the room that I didn't even notice it while I took most of the pictures. It's full of binders that I want to keep but have't found a good place for yet. So there it sits . . .

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

At long last, the first tour of the new house. We moved here at very tail end of May to be near Dave's mother, who needs someone nearby after the death of Dave's father in April. This is their house, which his mother graciously offered to us for our living quarters. (She moved by her choice into a nearby assisted-living facility.) They built this house in 2007. It sits on the edge of a pond on a gazillion acres of land. The setting is beautiful, as is the house. We feel very blessed to be living here and hope to offer much hospitality in this house.

The living room, dining room, and kitchen are all one big room and are open to each other. The picture below is taken from the vantage point of the kitchen, which I will show another time.

The big windows look out onto the deck and overlook the pond. That's a door in the middle with access to the deck. The windows have very nice blinds, but I am contemplating adding curtains. Nothing heavy. What do you think? Do I want curtains?

The floors throughout most of the house are some sort of ceramic tile (they look like flagstones) with in-the-floor heating. I think the cat will love that this winter!

I have always wanted a little table and chairs by a window! When it's just two of us eating,
we usually sit here. The chair in the corner we call the Introvert's Chair because it's
situated all by itself out of the mainstream of activity. lol

Here's the view from the door that leads to the deck. Aren't the fireplace and built-ins glorious? For once in our lives, we have more than enough bookshelves! These shelves house our non-fiction collection, not including the theology books which are in Dave's office, our CD/DVD collection, and about half of Hannah's books. I have fabric to make pillows for the couch and/or chair, but I just haven't gotten to it yet. The paintings in this room were all done by Dave's grandmother, Dorothea Kelsey.

The two paintings here are still in the locations that Dave's parents put them. I can't decide if they need a little rearranging or additions made or if they are fine as is. What do you think?

The sculptures and pottery are by Dave's grandfather, Luman P. Kelsey

Here's the dining area. It overlooks the pond too. It's so bright and cheery!

I think my stained glass piece will go in this big window. We just haven't done it yet.

That's the front door. Well, actually, there is an airlock on the other side, so technically this isn't the front door, but it is the main entrance. The wall on the right is a 3/4 wall, and on the other side is the kitchen.

Looking into the living room from the dining area. The biggest drawback with this house is that with so many doors and windows and openings, there is not much wall space. It's been a bit of a challenge arranging furniture and finding a place for everything.

So there it is! Though there is still much to do, we feel settled and at-home. We know we have done nothing to deserve the blessing of living in this beautiful place, but we thank the Lord for providing for us, as He always has! May we use it for His glory and the benefit of His kingdom.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Hello, autumn! I do so love you after the hot and humid days of summer. I love your deep blue skies, your crystal clear air, your tangy mellowness. Won't you please stay awhile?

{Pretty}

I just happened to have my camera with me as I was crossing the uphill side of the yard after a trip to the compost pile when I really noticed for the first time how attractive the house is from that angle.

We are so blessed to be surrounded by so much natural beauty and to be living in such a pleasant place!

{Happy}

The dead tree that fell into the pond years ago has proven a popular spot with herons, geese, and, this week, turtles. They are {happy} to climb on it and catch some rays in the cooler weather.

I took this picture from our deck using the zoom.

{Funny}

Remember the squirrel from a few autumns ago who provided great amusement by "hiding" his half-eaten apples all over the place? Well, the squirrels here are not as amusing, but Dave and I do enjoy finding piles of nut shells on the deck railing and even on top of the mailbox!

The black walnuts are profuse around here.

{Real}

It is impossible to keep to the cobwebs down to an acceptable level here. This one is kind of pretty, though, and is it close to enough to Halloween that I can claim it as a decoration?

Sunday, September 14, 2014

I have still have grandchildren on my mind, so I'm continuing last week's "visiting the grandchildren and their parents" theme.

{Pretty}

While we were in West Virginia, Dave took a short side trip to Maryland to preach at a church that generously supports him in his seminary studies. He took this from the roadside just inside the Maryland border.

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Last week, Arane picked some flowers and helped arrange them in the vase. This is a two-year-old's idea of floral beauty. :)

{Happy}

These people make me happy.

Arane (2yo), Justin, Elizabeth, and Verity (9 days old)

And ice cream from the ice cream man, courtesy of Grandpa, makes this little one happy.

{Funny}

I'm departing from the theme for a moment~

One evening last week after dark, we heard some geese settling in for the night on our pond. The next day these two (later joined by a third) proceeded to spend the morning perched on one foot on a log in the middle of the pond. I thought only flamingos did that!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

We have lots of {pretty} and {happy} to share this week thanks to the birth of our second granddaughter. She is an August baby by the skin of her teeth, being born at 11:24 pm on August 31. We are at my daughter's house helping and at the same time getting a large grandma/grandpa fix.

{Pretty}

Here she is, Verity Roseanna. She is so sweet, snuggly, and good as gold!

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There are sweet little pink things on the clothesline again~

{Happy}

Besides oo-ing and ah-ing over little Verity, many of our duties include having fun with her big sister, Arane. This child loves to swing. "Higher! Higher" she says.

When it rains, a puddle of prodigious proportions appears across the street. It's a favorite spot of puddle jumpers.

2011 Reading Challenge: 52 Books in 52 Weeks~~I Did It!

#1 At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson#2 Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish#3 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff#4 Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome#5 The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse#6 In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

#7 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte#8 A World Lost by Wendell Berry#9 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall#10 Journey Cake by Isabel McLennan McKeekin#11 How Right You Are, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse#12 The Blessings of Weekly Communion by Kenneth Wieting

#13 Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson#14 On Christian Liberty by Martin Luther#15 Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World by N.D. Wilson#16 The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis#17 The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan#18 Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope#19 1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth